Isaiah

[0:00] the words which I trust the Lord will enable me to make a few remarks will be found in the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 9 and we'll read the 5th and the 6th verses the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 9 verses 5 and 6 for every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire for unto us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful

[1:06] Counselor the Mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace how different is the religion of the people of God to that which is so evident with which we are surrounded today where the lost people right from the beginning of time have been a people who have been troubled with great enemies whose life has been nothing but warfare and how they've had to prove that carnal weapons are of no avail very few in the day in which we live know what it is to battle against that great enemy of souls for the most part the religious world are a happy people satisfied with their religion hardly have if ever any doubts with regard to their standing but just here and there there is one godly soul one who is wrought upon by the Holy Spirit one who is brought into deep exercise who knows something of the warfare for every battle there are very many battles that the child of God meets with but every one without exception every battle of the warrior is with confused noise whilst we've been graciously preserved from having to go into the battlefield naturally we've known what it is to have to suffer aerial bombardment and we know a little of the noise which warfare makes and how confused one can be under such circumstances and we can well imagine what confusion takes place at the height of battle and the battlefield but what is this compared to the confusion that takes place within the hearts of the lost people as they are brought to battle against that great enemy of souls what confusion what havoc he brings within how they are brought to realize that that easy going religion is not for them that they can find no true satisfaction as others do as they are brought into great doubt after their standing before God and wherever they look so they are confused if they look to the church they cannot find comfort there there is so much going on in the churches which confuse them always has been if they look to the lost people they may find some comfort from them for a while but then the more they learn of them well then they become more confused the same applies with godly ministers those who perhaps they look up to those who they felt a blessing under their ministry and then as time goes on things change in such a way they bring confusion and so there are so many things and so many different ways and then as they read the word of God they seem to receive a certain amount of comfort from it and then as they continue it would appear that even the very scriptures contradict themselves and then Satan will come with all sorts of insinuations and how they fall a prey to these insinuations and they seem to be completely under the power of the enemy of souls for every battle of the warrior is with confused noise how they are tempted at times to believe that the word of God cannot possibly be true because it appears so contrary to them because as yet the Holy Spirit has not revealed the truths how we need the Lord to come and to show us and lead us in this battle and how they look to all sorts of weapons various ways of escape if only they could find a little peace if only they could find a little comfort then all would be well but it seems to be one continuous battle it's not as if there's any peace any quietness as one said no sooner that one trouble ends another begins and then they have before them eternity and how confused one can become in this how Satan can pray upon the mind and how we can be brought to believe as so many do believe that when death comes that will be the end of everything how we perhaps try to imagine that death will bring an end to all our troubles some poor things have even been left to take their own lives believing this and by taking their own lives all their troubles will come to an end for every battle the warrior is with confused noise and I believe the child of

[8:28] God is so often brought to that place that he knows not where he is or what he's doing or where he's going but also and garments rolled in blood but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire this battle is going to be a battle which is totally different to normal battles the intensity of it is going to be greater than any natural battle battle and whilst the children of Israel fought or had as enemies the Assyrians the Philistines and all those great enemies who rose up against them yet this battle which was prophesied was a greater battle than any battle that the

[9:31] Israelites had ever experienced before and this was a battle between God the creator of this universe and that great satanic power as the Lord Jesus came upon this earth to redeem his church for every battle the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire and so as he came upon this earth it was with confused noise none could ever believe apart from a handful of shepherds that he was the Lord and Saviour King of Kings and Lord of Lords how they expected him to although they believed that he would come they believed in a prophecy but how they expected him to come as an earthly monarch to reign over them to rule over them how deceived we can be even in the interpretation of the scriptures and how we need the Lord to reveal these things to us

[10:57] I've made so many they have an understanding a literal understanding of the scriptures but oh to be led into the scriptures spiritually and we shall know that the word of God then is true however confusing it may be that those parts which to us at times have been so confusing we find are so sweet and we find such a sweet harmony in those portions as the Holy Spirit works within our hearts shines upon the word and shows the complete harmony in his word and there is no confusion in the word of God but there is much confusion in the way in which Satan works and so this is a prophecy with regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ of that great battle which he would fight on behalf of his church how he and he alone could bring this about and how he and he alone could conquer that great and that mighty hope it is one here tonight who is so confused because of the way in which things are going with you as you read the word as you look upon yourself as you feel your own weakness your own inability you see the law of God in all its purity you believe that that law must be fulfilled and as you endeavour you come so far short and the more you try to fulfil the law of

[12:39] God well then the more confused you become because you realise your inability to do it and then as you travel on there are so many things which attract and distract which take your mind away from all that's good and how easily you become a prey to Satan how easily it is to be caught up into some battle even by a word or by some instant that takes place around you how you be taken up with the ungodly and the worldly and how you can listen to their conversation and how their conversation will make you more confused and then you look at their lives and you look at the life of the professor and they seem to have such a wonderful way and strength so different to that which you possess all you seem to possess is weakness frailty of the flesh all you seem to possess is everything that's weak you have no strength in and of yourself for every battle of the warrior is with confused noise there's so much going on and there is fire from every angle there's a fire before you on every side and behind you you don't know where the enemy is you don't know what the end is going to be there's so much going on if only one could have a little peace to settle down for a while to try and think things out the Lord will never allow you to do this he will never allow you to have a little peace to think things out for yourself once this battle has begun it must go right the way through and therefore you will be brought to realize that you need help that there must be some help coming somewhere or else you will be completely annihilated and then the more you look at the law of

[15:10] God the more you tremble as that great enemy of souls comes before you and accuses you do you know anything of that great accuser of souls oh how hot the battle is then when he comes and points out to you the evils of your heart your sins and as to David of old thou art the man thou art the woman but as one is led to see that banner which the Lord alone is able to set before your eyes to see that the conquest does not depend upon you but it is dependent upon him who guides who leads who directs no soldier in the battlefield can ever win a battle on his own he has to have training he has to be rightly equipped he has to know much about the enemy and who but the

[16:25] Lord Jesus Christ is able to reveal to the sinner his need and who alone is able to supply that need of Paul in writing to the Philippians he says my God shall supply all your need and it is indeed a great mercy to know in the time of warfare that there is one and to be led by the Holy Spirit to see this one who alone is able to supply all our need but this shall be with Bernie and fuel a fire this burning is the work of the Holy Spirit it is the when the Lord Jesus came up out of the water of baptism so the

[17:26] Holy Spirit descended upon him visibly although invisible to those who witnessed who were not under the influence of that Spirit but how that Spirit was with him right from the time of his birth right to the time that he said it is finished how that Spirit is with him now and how that Spirit works within the heart of his people how it burns up first of all it burns everything of nature when all the help of man is vain and this Spirit will burn it will completely bring to dust and ashes everything that you hope upon all your hopes will be dashed with regard to eternity and you will be brought face to face with this great this almighty

[18:34] God but this shall be with burning and fuel the fire and how it seems that as this work of burning and consuming goes on so that more fuel is added to this fire fresh sins will accumulate fresh guilt will accumulate and one feels that although their case appeared helpless and hopeless at one time now it's worse than ever and then the Holy Spirit leads them to a precious Christ for unto us a child is born unto us a son is giver and the government shall be upon his shoulder the weight the responsibility and the government of every act of every desire of every prayer will be upon him upon him call in humble prayer thou still art his peculiar care he'll surely turn and smile again nor shalt thou see his face in vain the government shall be upon his shoulders or how hard it is to believe that satan with all his satanic power is governed and controlled by this almighty power of God or how much faith we need to believe it how much light upon the word of God we need and spiritual understanding to see it and yet if it were not for the

[20:39] Holy Spirit revealing such light and revealing such understanding the child of God would die in despair but that he never will however painful the fire may be whatever fuel may be added to it yet everything is governed everything is controlled by almighty God all must come and last and end as shall please our heavenly friend and so it will none can ever state his hand and this at times will seem to add fuel to the fire when we are brought to really believe that nothing will ever state his hand because we know that his purposes will continue that this battle must be fought and we are brought into great fear as to what the future may hold we lose sight of the fact that the government is upon his shoulders and also not only that what his name is recorded here his name should be called wonderful counselor the mighty

[21:58] God the everlasting father the prince of peace there is not time to enter into this as we would desire this evening but just a few thoughts that we may have been able to remember and trust and hope in if we are brought into this battle to realize that we are not going to be the winners ourselves how we should be brought dependent upon the Lord for everything and how he will bring us to be dependent upon him and we shall see how wonderful this God is in times of battle how in our weakness we can find strength and whatever temptations Satan may set before us that with that temptation the wisdom of God is such that he will make a way of escape ah but you say I have fallen under the tempter's power

[22:59] I have sinned under the tempter's power but he still made a way of escape there are these garments rolled in blood who are these arrayed in white robes where's came they these are they that came out of tribulation indeed not these are they that came out of great tribulation and of what they arose in the blood of the lamb or what a mercy it is to be led to the lamb of God as their only hope of salvation and then to see all these wonderful characters in him that we never seen before to see him not only as a child that he can come down to where we are yesterday we were speaking with regard to the when I was a child

[24:04] I spake as a child but how the Lord it doesn't matter how low we are or how childish we may be even in our thoughts to remember that he was a child whatever our walk of life he knows all about it but he came upon this earth so in such a way in such humility if only there was more childlike expressions if only we could be more childlike in our pleas at the throne of grace more childlike in our approach to God I believe we would then be much more prosperous in our souls but how this precious lamb of God he came upon this earth as a child but when one is raised up to a little hope in the mercy of

[25:06] God we're able to say unto us unto us a child is born you take the parents as they look upon their first child the satisfaction the pleasure that it brings unto us it unites them more doesn't it how a family is united more as a child is born unto us a child is born but how the church of God they can see that God as it were to start with as so small they cannot appreciate the greatness of this God they see him perhaps as a child they see him in weakness and yet they can see him as a child but then how this God grows in the experience of the battle of the child of

[26:09] God how this God who at first appeared to them in such a way with all his weakness with all his frailties in his humanity as one looks upon this God perhaps as we so often do as one like ourselves but then how this God grows in the experience of this warfare as one is brought through one battle under the power and the influence of this God and the Holy Spirit and as one is able to trust upon this God and then as we are led into another conflict and as we are brought up against Satan again so this God becomes greater in our experience he becomes more powerful not that he does become more powerful but I'm speaking now as individuals and our understanding of this God and as time goes on so this

[27:12] God becomes more precious and the more we're brought into conflict and the greater the battle is the more we should desire to go to this God and to seek his counsel to seek his wisdom and to seek his understanding because he knows all about what's going on and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful why because there is nothing more wonderful even beyond the works of creation and the way of salvation as we look upon the works of creation there is nothing which is so wonderful to us as we see the universe and how everything is held in place and how the seasons appear year after year and how the sun and the moon how they rotate in the earth and then the crops and the even the human body and the smallest insect how wonderful they appear to us when we look at these things rightly but what are these compared to the wonderful plan of redemption to think that this great almighty

[28:31] God who framed and created the universe should become a child his name should be called wonderful and then that he should grow up as man and then to be rejected of his own people although he was king of kings and lord of lords he could have come upon this earth as a great monarch but it was the wonderful way in which salvation was brought about the wonderful way in which his own were able under the influence of the Holy Spirit to see him and to know him and to seek for him and how men and women today under that same spirit are led not only through the warfare but also by that same spirit to seek him and also to find him and how this God is found and he is found of those who sought him not and what a great comfort he is to them and what a wonderful God as he grows in their experience he is to them and the wonderful blessings that he provides them with and that blessing of blessings the way of salvation salvation although their battle was lost yet he fought on their behalf how he kept close to them how he instructed them how he guided them how he brings them to Calvary when we come to consider the way in which the children of Israel went through the wilderness the many battles that they fought the way in which the Lord led them the way in which the Lord provided for them surely they could say even naturally that this

[30:37] God the government was upon his shoulder and that his name was called wonderful the wonderful way in which he brought them through the wilderness and the wonderful way in which he is now according to his own word bringing them to their own country whatever man may do there may be many battles for Israel to fight even yet but how this God will eventually settle them and how he will open their eyes and they will see that God has never before but how much more so the church of God spiritual Israel as this God goes before them as he leads them through this wilderness how he brings them into those places and spots and manifests his love and his faith towards them has this

[31:39] God ever been wonderful to you have you ever been able to look at this God and he's been a real wonder to you the wondrous way of salvation you know man he talks so flippantly about it doesn't he but when one is brought into this battle against the enemy and when they see the law of God so broken and when they stand before that just and holy God so guilty and then to be led to see this wonderful redeemer it seems that the very scriptures themselves cannot describe him as we would he shall be called wonderful he shall it seems to me that even in our mortal flesh we are unable unable to call him wonderful as he is words do not express what this great redeemer is to his people all we can say is that he is wonderful and one has to experience the wonders of redeeming love before they are able to understand it we cannot convey as much as we would desire to we cannot convey what this wondrous thing is it is something which has to be burnt within the soul and where the Holy

[33:09] Spirit and the fuel from on high which creates a love within our heart toward this wonderful God and his electing mercy toward us where we are able to see his sovereignty and his knowledge even before the foundation of the world counsellor oh if we were left to ourselves and our own councils where would we be at the time of battle but how the Lord in various ways as we read through the scriptures as he counselled the church of God and what wonderful counsel does the Lord give to his people to trust him to seek him to seek for his help to seek for his guidance to leave everything which is of men and to go to him and to stick to this God to seek him above all others because he alone has this wonderful counsel and he alone is able to direct us in all our affairs both in providence as well as in grace how we look back upon some of the foolish steps that we have taken with our counsel and yet how this

[34:33] God has ruled and overruled to bring about his own counsels how he has put our own foolishness to good effect through his own wonderful ways his name should be called wonderful counselor the mighty God a mighty savior said one suits me well if he wasn't mighty well then he wouldn't be very much good to some of us would he but this is another great beauty he's so mighty his power is over sin death and hell and what might is his to save a rebellious wretch from hell when we come to consider the rebellion which goes on within the heart of his people against the way in which he directs the way in which he counsels there's rebellion but he says rebellious thou hast been and art rebellious still but since in love

[35:40] I took thee in my promise I'll fulfill so here's his counsel and here is his mighty power in fulfilling that which he has promised to do what mighty power it needs for this God to be unchangeable when we come to consider the qualities of our nature what might we would need to be unchangeable to our fellow friends fellow creatures how the least of the thing will upset how it will alter our affection toward them perhaps what almighty power would be necessary to make us unchangeable toward them and then when we come to consider the rebellion the wretchedness the sin of the church of God and how this mighty

[36:41] God is unchangeable toward them his love doesn't alter not to a single degree his purpose toward them cannot be altered he's a mighty God in that respect and then he's so mighty that he overcomes Satan and he overcomes that last great enemy death takes the steam completely away from it so that his people although deserving eternal misery find eternal bless through him and therefore not only is he the mighty God he's the everlasting father who provides everything for the spiritual family and last of all the prince of peace the prince the son of the king of kings he is the prince of peace and how one is brought to know a little of the peace of

[37:47] God which passeth all understanding what a wonderful thing it is when rebellious sinners are brought to know something of the peace of God within their own hearts peace by the cross as Jesus made the church is everlasting end when one is brought to see their sin the broken law hell as their portion no peace in this earth no peace hereafter and then to be brought to see the Lord Jesus and to have peace brought within that rebellious heart you know at times it seems impossible to set before the people how wonderful this God is and what he can do for those who feel their need but also the proud the Pharisee and the so called religious how he can cut them off in a moment and how it is the sinners that the

[38:55] Lord has mercy upon and here we can see that those who do not require this peace because they are so righteous in and of themselves they have no desire for it but it's only the sinner it's only those who know what a broken law is that will ever be brought to know what this peace is and it's not the peace that man seeks after upon this earth either it's not the happiness that man seeks after upon this earth this peace cannot be compared to a natural peace this peace is a complete union between God and his church a complete oneness nothing nothing to mar that union there's much to mar the union whilst the church is in this militant state but when the church triumphant is complete there will be this wonderful peace this completeness never known before and as the child of God comes through that last battle and sees those garments dyed in blood who is this that cometh up out of

[40:16] Eden dyed garments from Bosra who is this leaning upon her beloved why the church of God where do you lean when you're brought into battle isn't it good to have this God to lean upon in our times of need and where we can lean upon him as our beloved for every battle the warrior is with confused noise garments rolled in blood but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire but there is peace to come and to know something of the reality of these things which we've tried to set before you this evening to have the experience of them within their own hearts and then at last to know what true eternal unchanging peace will be there is a prospect to the people of God there is a prospect to those who are fighting under the banner of almighty

[41:25] God this great enemy of souls well may the Lord then so encourage us and may he bring us into this battle may we esteem it a favour to be brought even to suffer with the people of God and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season we must leave it may the Lord have his blessing Amen the Was more than may have